From: hsr4@vax.oxford.ac.uk
Subject: Re:  Integrated laser arrays for HMDs
Date: 7 Nov 91 21:00:24 GMT
Message-ID: <1991Nov7.210025.2647@vax.oxford.ac.uk>
Organization: Oxford University VAXcluster



In article <1991Nov7.015220.29024@milton.u.washington.edu>, mailrus!gatech!
mit-eddie!media.mit.edu!minsky@uunet.uu.net writes:

> In article <1991Nov6.024220.1048@milton.u.washington.edu> adobe!!
> epperson@decwrl.dec.com (Mark Epperson) writes:
> 
>>In article <1991Nov1.174248.19885@milton.u.washington.edu> cdshaw@cs.
>>ualberta.ca (Chris Shaw) writes:
>>
>>Look at the latest issue of Scientific American for the article on
>>Surface Emmiting Lasers.  They describe a future version of their
>>laser which will be far more efficient.

I read the Sci Amer article yesterday (we Brits probably get it quite a bit
later than you), and unless I'm much mistaken, the efficiency quote refers
not to the efficiency with which the light is emitted, but to the efficiency
with which the chip can be (a) fabricated and (b) made to endure.  The
article suggests that the MTBF of the present chip is a matter of hours or
less, requiring the whole chip to be discarded once a few of the microlasers 
have failed.

If that wasn't what was meant, my apologies.

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| Peter G. Q. Brooks HSR4@OX.VAX.AC.UK |                                       |
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